Job Discussion Forums

[Stephen Jones]

[johnslat]

Dear miski,
"Feeling poorly" sounded OK to me (I'm sure I've seen it used many times in Victorian novels), so I did a little search:

"Point 1 is that a LINKING VERB is not always followed by a �predicate adjective�, despite the rule that it is. It can also be followed by a �predicate adverb� as in I FEEL POORLY�a perfectly acceptable sentence).

Point 2 is that meaning trumps grammar. English is notorious for this sort of thing.

Point 3 is that words themselves have a life of their own. What might be true for one word does not necessarily apply to another word, as in the BAD/SAD examples above."

http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/04/08/a_little_lesson_in_grammar/

and

badly and poorly
Regular commenter Rebecca asked me recently about Americans saying I feel badly. I wasn't so sure it was American, and the OED isn't so sure it is either, as they have it as 'dialectal' (which, for the OED, means 'British dialectal'). On the other hand, I was under the impression that saying I feel poorly was a British dialectal thing, yet I find in the American Heritage Dictionary that it's used in America too. But, looking beyond the dictionary dialect labels, there are arguably some differences here. I'll get to those in a bit. First, some probably unnecessary reflections on the adjectival status of badly and poorly, just to amuse myself.

What is funny about both of these words is that they are -ly forms being used unusually as adjectives, rather than adverbs. Funnier still is the very limited way in which we use them. Typical adjectives can modify nouns in two ways:

Attributively -- that is, within the noun phrase:

the sick parrot
and

Predicatively -- after a linking verb
The parrot is/seems/feels/smells sick

Poorly only goes in predicative position:
The parrot is/seems/feels poorly.
*the poorly parrot
(* always indicates ungrammatical/unnatural phrasings)
That's not so odd, since there are some other adjectives, like glad, that only like to be in predicative position.

But badly is funnier still. It doesn't like to be in attributive position, and seems only to go in predicative position after the verb feel:
I feel badly
?The parrot is/seems badly
*the badly parrot
Using badly as an adjective after feel creates an ambiguity between the adjectival interpretation and the adverbial interpretation:
The parrot feels badly
adjective reading: 'The parrot doesn't feel good.'

adverb reading: 'The parrot isn't good at feeling.' (perhaps because parrots don't have hands!)"

http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2006/08/badly-and-poorly.html

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

I would consider "feeling poorly" a regional dialect form in the US... usually southern/eastern and/or rural - generally not well educated. It is something that my father and that side of my family use - in particular the older generations. I would assume that it was an imported dialect formation.

I have never used it myself.

VS

[johnslat]

"Please let me know if both are correct.

I don't understand how people can write so badly.
I don't understand how people can write so poorly."

"Grammar's Answer:

n that context, either of those words would work. It's only when you're talking about someone's health that you need to be aware that some folks will object to the use of "poorly," as in "He felt poorly last week." The word does have a long and well established history in that context, though. Jane Austen writes that "�poor little Cassy is grown extremely thin and looks poorly" and "She was still very poorly."

By permission, From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage � 1994 by Merriam-Webster, Inc. (www.Merriam-Webster.com)."

Aha - I knew I'd seem it in some Victorian novels.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs4/grammarlogs593.htm